CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Oliver, Esther, Walter, and Simon emerged through the portal back into 1944 New Jersey, the time and location of the School for Seers. But instead of the enormous underground magical school, they found an enormous pile of rock and metal, brick and plaster.
Picking through the rubble was Professor Amethyst.
Oliver’s heart leapt into his throat. “Professor!” he exclaimed.
The old man turned. “Oliver. Ah. There you are,” he said. He gingerly made his way down the pile and stood before them. “You made it back safely, I presume?”
His joviality felt quite jarring in contrast to everything they’d been through. Oliver looked at Simon, Walter, and Esther beside him. They all looked a state, like they’d been through some horrible ordeal.
“Just about,” Walter quipped.
But th
